(Photo Credit: A24)
(“How to Make a Killing” trailer courtesy of A24)
The late Marvin Zindler, a Houston media legend, would often say, “It’s hell to be poor.”
But the good thing about being poor is that you will probably never become the target of people trying to snatch your riches, because you have none to snatch.
You cannot get blood from a turnip.
But if you make a bunch of rich people bleed to death and you are the only heir left, you’ll eat better food than turnips for the rest of your life.
In “How to Make a Killing,” Becket Redfellow (Glen Powell) should never have wanted for anything in life, given that he comes from a family worth $28 billion.
No matter what he does in life, he is set to inherit a trust worth the aforementioned amount, along with substantial land and real estate holdings.
Despite the trust being irrevocable, access to the family estate and money (when your elders and first cousins are still living) is revocable if a person brings shame to the family name.
When 18-year-old Cassandra Redfellow becomes pregnant with Becket, she is forced to leave the family estate and raise her young illegitimate son on her own after Becket’s father drops dead in the delivery room.
Although Becket does not have access to the family’s riches and privileges growing up, Cassandra is determined to expose her son to the finer things in life, even if she struggles financially to achieve them.
She constantly informs him of what he is entitled to because of his last name.
Additionally, she makes Becket promise her that he will keep fighting until he can live the type of life he is entitled to as a billionaire Redfellow.
Getting exposed to archery and other elitist sports allows Young Becket to rub elbows with rich kids like Young Julia.
Becket develops an infatuation with Julia that lasts long into adulthood, even though the two lovebirds have been estranged for years.
Although Young Julia knows that Becket is poor, he often tells her that he is entitled to a lot of money one day because of his family ties.
When Julia happens to walk into a tailor shop and sees Becket for the first time since childhood, she asks him if he has ever received the money owed him.
In turn, Becket informs Julia that there are some other relatives in line to receive the riches before him.
But the newly engaged Julia tells him to let her know when he kills the relatives standing in his way.
In “How to Make a Killing,” Becket pays no mind to Julia’s comments until his company demotes him in favor of the boss’s son.
The reality that nepotism is often the way up in the world changes something in Becket.
He realizes he will not get what he is owed unless he is proactive and not reactive.
Therefore, Becket devises a scheme to get close to his estranged relatives and knock them off one by one until he is the last person standing.
But how can a nice guy, who grew up learning about the finer things in life, become a conniving, cold and calculated killer?
Well, some killers say the first murder is the hardest one to do because of nervousness and fear.
But once a true killer knows that they can “un-alive” someone and get away with it, what is to stop them from doing it repeatedly?
And when the grand prize of serial killing is $28 billion, the most innocent dove can transform into a demented psycho killer.
While “How to Make a Killing” obviously will not make a killing during the 2027 award circuit, it does bring up some interesting lessons, like those in the recently released “Crime 101” starring Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, and Barry Keoghan.
Although crimes can lead to riches, how much money does one really need to be content?
And why would a person keep going once they are content, when they could have ridden off into the sunset before disaster struck?
Unfortunately, greed is often the motivation for crime in the first place.
And greed can blind people to what is truly important in life because money truly cannot buy happiness.
While “Crime 101” and classic crime movies like “Set It Off” and “The Town” are more serious in tone, “How to Make a Killing” takes a quirky angle to reach a similar destination: greed and not knowing when to walk away.
Becket has a good woman who appreciates him regardless of his socioeconomic status.
But he is still controlled by a woman who really would not give him the time of day if he were not an heir to a multi-billion-dollar empire.
“How to Make a Killing” shows how a beautiful woman can manipulate a man so badly that she literally ruins his life.
And while a manipulated man might maintain his fortune, he often does not have the right partner to share it with at the end of the day.
While the message is clear early in the movie, “How to Make a Killing” has enough twists and turns to avoid too much predictability.
However, “How to Make a Killing” succeeds because it reiterates the point that rapper The Notorious B.I.G. made in 1997.
Although it is hell to be poor, the more money a person has, the more problems they have.
Is it worth it?
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE
ONE CROWN=POOR
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